"Black Friday" Shopping: Some Think The Bargains Weren't As Good As Last Year

(Week of 11/23/2012) With all the images of shoppers mobbing the stores searching for sales on the day after Thanksgiving, it’s important to remember that those who left their homes to shop are a minority of the American public. In the latest Economist/YouGov Poll, just 22% say they went shopping on Black Friday itself.

Those shoppers are more likely to be younger (27% of those under 30 shopped that day, but just 14% of those 65 and older did). They are also more likely to be female (26% of whom shopped while just 17% of men did). Those with household incomes above $40,000 were more likely to shop than those with lower incomes. But the shopping bug hit the married and the unmarried and Republicans and Democrats with just about the same intensity.

According to the poll, the typical Black Friday shopper spent under $100, and that was just about what they expected to spend. But that might be because more thought the bargains this year weren’t as good as they were last year than felt they were better this year.